


CSI: Crime Scene Hellavestigation

by Erstaz



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Drinking, Eventual Smut, F/F, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Main relationship is Pricefield, No time travelling powers, One-Sided Attraction, Police, Slow Burn, Smoking, pricefield, will add more tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-21
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2018-08-31 19:17:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8590447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erstaz/pseuds/Erstaz
Summary: A murder. Officer Chloe Price is on the case. She might've just gotten the job but damn it she was a hell of a rookie. Even the chief said so. However, when Officer Price receives the news that Victoria Chase was murdered and the main suspect was a mysterious Max Caulfield, Chloe anxiously awaits to meet the one who killed her love (like?).





	1. Inquiries

**Author's Note:**

> Okay! Before you read this fic you should know:  
> \- SOME events in the game happen in this story. More will be found out as the story progresses.
> 
> \- This is a police officer AU, and a different first meeting. 
> 
> Elipses = a period of time has passed, a memory is beginning, or a memory is ending.

The room is cold. 

 

Chloe sits down facing the young woman with light brown hair and freckles spattered all over her face. Her arms are resting on the gray metal table, and she is leaning back in a matching chair. They are in stalemate, tensely staring at each other. Not a single word has been spoken.

 

The girl looks to be a young adult. She looks down, playing idly with her hands. Chloe breaks the silence by standing up. Chloe carefully watches Max’s expression as she walks around the room. The girl looks up and into Chloe’s eyes, a scowl glued onto her face. 

 

Chloe overlooks her outfit amidst heavy silence. A navy blue collared long sleeved t-shirt with sewn-on badges on both of the shoulders, and a breast pocket next to the actual police badge. She has a radio on her left shoulder and a white undershirt. Chloe looks straight at the girl, who has avoided her eyes ever since the start of the interrogation.

 

This has gone on long enough, Chloe ponders The girl looks down at the table. 

 

“Maxine Caulfield?” Chloe begins. She notes that the name possesses some familiarity. 

“Oh, no it’s really Ma-” the suspect begins.

 

Chloe interrupts. “So, Maxine, you are aware of the death of Victoria Chase, correct?”

 

Max waits a second before answering. “Yes.”

 

Chloe nods idly while writing in her weary black notepad. Upon seeing this, Max swallows hard. The room is dark, save for a bright fluorescent light right above Max’s forehead, causing her to perspire more than usual. Max doesn’t like it. Her current instinct is to leave. Now. But she can’t, not unless she’s convicted or released. And she isn't even sure if she’s guilty. This Officer Price definitely thinks she is.

 

But Max is involved. She knew who did it.

 

“Okay. You attend Blackwell Academy, as did the victim. Witnesses said that you two were in a fight, is that correct?” Chloe is staring directly at Max now, an irritating expression forming on her face.

 

“Um, I guess,” Max replied ambiguously. They weren’t really in a fight.Things were getting better. Max and Victoria would never be friends - they ran in different circles, but they hated each other significantly less than before. Victoria now had less of a bug up her ass than when Max first transferred to Blackwell. Chloe seems to sport a smile and continued to write down more notes.

 

“What are you writing there?” Max asks cautiously, leaning over for a look in the notebook. Chloe hides what she’s writing with her arm. When Chloe looks up to face her, Max leans back in her chair. 

 

Chloe puts on a big grin and says “Nothing to concern yourself with, hon.” Hon.. Known as a term for affection. Nothing is affectionate about this confrontation. Max is struggling to relax despite her attempts.

 

“Now, Victoria was known by some of the students for her.. Abrasive personality. Her parents own an art gallery and were pretty much loaded, something that could spark jealousy,” Chloe continues. Max knows what she’s doing, but jealousy isn’t the motive here.

 

“It wasn’t because of jealousy,” Max spits out rather quickly and regrets it as the words leave her mouth. She sees Chloe perk up at that, lowering the black pen in her right hand with intense interest, and she chides herself. She has to be more careful.

 

“Okay. No one is concerned about her power or her reputation. She had drugs. And lots of it. Got it from a dealer named Frank.”

 

Max is getting impatient. “You’re letting a dealer run wild, but you’re interrogating me?” she scoffs. 

 

Chloe is tight-lipped. Her mouth is desperately trying to avoid a frown. “Nothing to concern yourself with, dear,” the word rolls off her tongue and she puts extra emphasis on it. 

 

“This run around is bothering me. Victoria Chase is dead. You are aware of who killed her, and you’re protecting the killer. Victoria was given a substantial blow to the head in room 218, which we later discovered belonged to a student in Blackwell, and witnesses indeed claimed that you two were friends. She has been interrogated and jailed. The only reason why you’re spending your night with me is because you had a motive,” Chloe says effortlessly in one breath, albeit shakily. She stares at Max for her reaction.

 

Max is caught with a look of disbelief and surprise. The silence is deafening until Max is too uncomfortable to continue the charade.

 

“I didn’t do it...” Max pleads.

 

Chloe simply stares, bored. “I am aware of that. What we care about is the killer.”

 

“You said Dana was interrogated and is in jail. So why are you asking me?” Max snaps.

 

“Okay,” Chloe says. 

 

“Okay? I confessed who the murderer is and-” Max stops dead in her tracks.

 

Silence.

 

Chloe grins. “An eyewitness saw you emerging out of Dan--room 229 at about 8:15 PM, your face resembled what the witness said, and I quote ‘looked like Max was tripping balls. Which she probably was, the whore.’” Chloe’s face is deadpan and her tone is emotionless as she reads the quote on the sheaf of papers on the metal table.

 

Max grits her teeth. Sure, I go out with my friend one time and suddenly I’m a whore. Thanks, Brooke. 

 

“So,” Chloe begins, her hands interlocking with each other on the table. “What were you doing in that room?” Chloe stands up and begins walking over to Max. She puts her hands on the back her chair, hands on the top of the metal. Max is growing anxious. 

 

Max had to whip up of a lie and quick. Sure, she didn’t do the murder herself, but she helped Dana out.

 

…  
Dana sat on the bed with her hands hooked on the edges, trembling. The bloody flashlight in her hands fell with a thunk. Two teardrops dropped from her eyes.. With a deep choking breath Dana leaned back to lie on the bed. Victoria’s lifeless body was on the floor, multiple wounds on her head oozing blood. Dana sits up to look at the gory mess again, but her stomach trembles. She threw her head back and retched in the plastic garbage bin, heaving until there is nothing coming out. Her mouth was bitter from the taste of the bile. She turned her head away from the table and back at Victoria again, her teary eyes making the image blurry. 

 

She closed her eyes, but the tears kept coming. Twenty minutes ago, she was emotionless, cold. Now, finally grasping the reality of what just happened, she felt sorrow. Never could she consider taking a life until now. Dana was a content cheerleader with an attractive boyfriend, and decent grades. She’s not the type to kill someone

 

But she did. All because Victoria came into her room and began to talk about the pregnancy rumor. Word on the street was that Dana was pregnant, which was true, but now she wasn’t. The father never knew, and Victoria threatened to take that all away. Dana was angry at her insinuations, angry at her for messing around with Juliet and Zachary. The rage just pent up in her and between the flashlight in her hand and an easy target of Victoria’s head, it seemed natural.

 

It was only until Victoria fell to the ground, her last words full of sobbing and a final cry for forgiveness. Maybe if Dana was in a better state of mind, she would’ve stopped. She’s always been empathetic, but Victoria was so vile and evil, it almost felt like a good deed for the entirety of the Arcadia Bay community, except her parents.

 

Three soft knocks came on the door and a meek voice called out. “Dana? Can I come in?” Dana could hear the knob reluctantly being opened. 

 

“No! I’m changing!” Dana shouted much louder than she planned. The door closed slightly.

 

“Okay. Do you want me to come back or?” Max asked. Dana felt that Max would help her feel better. But she couldn’t just tell her what she did. Max hated Victoria more than Dana did, but that doesn’t mean she’ll pardon murder. She decided to hide the body for now. She walked over to Victoria, and dragged her under the bed by her calves. 

 

“Hello?” Max called out.

 

“I-I think I need to be alone right now. I’ll talk to you later, okay?” Dana felt her voice crack.

 

“Okay,” Max responded.

 

Dana pushed Victoria’s body until all of it was under her bed. She moved the garbage bin in front of the bed to further hide the body, and mapped out where she would sit on the bed so that her legs would cover it up as well. Her first thought was to take a walk. 

 

When Dana opened the door, Max was still there. 

 

“I thought you needed to be alone?” Max asked inquisitively. 

 

“Yeah, but I’m heading outside. See you later,” Dana replied and left the Blackwell dorm. 

 

Dana’s door was still open. Max was curious to see what was going on. Walking inside, Max’s nose scrunched up at the foul smell. She leaned over the garbage can with lightish brown liquid and chunks of food inside. Despite being disgusted, Max was determined to figure out why Dana was acting so odd. Perhaps she was pregnant again? She already had an abortion once, so that’s not plausible. 

 

Max avoided moving anything, instead observing the room. The smell of the vomit was too much to bear, so Max picked up the garbage bin by its handles, facing away from the bin, and moved it across the room towards the desk. She looked at items on the ground, but a pale piece of flesh caught her eye. Max considers that it may be a doll, or the latest boy hiding after a hookup. Getting down to her knees, Max tilted her head on the floor.

 

Whatever the thing was, it was quite large. It was too dark under to get an accurate look. Max used her phone’s flashlight to help her see under the bed. She wasn’t quite sure what she was looking at, but it looked like a black shirt. Figuring that she had already been so nosy, she grabbed the shirt but when she tried to pull it off it was attached to something already. 

 

Max considered giving up and leaving on account of the amount of effort she had used already. She pulled the shirt even harder, and the item jerked forward. Startled, Max rolled away on the floor and let go. 

 

After a few minutes, Max was ready to try again. She tried the hardest pull she could manage, and she hears the item hit the bed frame above. Frustrated, Max moved behind the bed to try a new angle.The TV stand was in the way, so she pivoted it to face the closet. So much for subtlety. She turned on the flashlight, and saw short blonde hair. Max’s heart beated twice as fast. No way.

 

At first, she suspected Dana killed some boy because he got her pregnant, but then realized the absurdity of it. Instead, Max grabbed the head by its sides and pulled it until the top half of Victoria’s body was revealed. Once Max saw the face, she came into a full realization. Did Dana kill Victoria? Max put a hand on Victoria’s heart, but nothing happened. She pulled further until Victoria’s entire body was out in the open. Max stood up and closed the door softly, locking it with a click. 

 

She was too much in shock to even register what could have possibly happened. Dana wasn’t here to provide an explanation, but Victoria was definitely dead. Max expected to feel joy, but she didn’t feel anything. Or at least, she didn’t feel sad or happy. There was nothing Max could do now anyway. It’s not like she could rewind time to stop Victoria from being murdered. Instead, Max hesitantly pushed Victoria back under the bed, retouched Dana’s room so it looked normal, and left, her eyes still wide from the discovery. She decided not to tell Dana for now, lest she got angry at Max for snooping in her room.   
...

 

“Do you want to say anything?” Chloe asks impatiently, snapping Max back into reality.

 

“Not until I speak to a lawyer,” Max said. She smiled to herself; it was kind of weird to use this line for real. 

 

Chloe sighed and shuffled the papers around. “Alright, we’re done here,” Chloe says and stands up. 

 

“Wait, where are you going?” 

 

“I’m going to leave and tell someone else to get you a public attorney, however long that’s going to take,” Chloe says. “Could be a while.”

 

“Oh.”

 

“Don’t worry, you’re not being arrested,” Yet.

 

Max slowly stands up and walks around the room. She thinks back to the Miranda warning Officer Price had read to her at the start of the interrogation.

 

“Is it true that anything I say can and will be used against me?” Max asks.

 

Chloe contemplates a moment as she holds the door open. “Police officers don’t ask questions. I think it’s to save our own asses, because if we don’t say that stuff to you any evidence we gather is unusable. You also become a pencil pusher.”

 

“Pencil pusher?” Max asks, her brows furrowing.

 

“Pencil pusher, desk jockey.. A guy who gets stuck doing paperwork and isn’t out in the field. It sucks, but you do that your first year of being an officer.”

 

“And you did that too?”

 

“Everyone does that when they first become an officer. That and patrol duty. It’s a gradual trust system. This is the first time I’ve led a case. My second time in the field in over a year. So yeah, I’m barely out of the baby stage.”

 

Max nods frantically. Chloe seems to relax a bit after Max shows her approval, willing her to share more.

 

“I love this job, but parts of it make it suck. They say sexism is gone.. But that’s bullshit. A few older officers think it’s funny to ‘fool around”- Chloe’s face contorted with anger before she restrained herself.

 

Max nods encouragingly. Chloe’s red face slowly goes back to normal. 

 

“I get it,” Max says. 

 

“Yup.” Chloe muses.

 

In the silence this is the first time that Max really looked at Chloe’s face. Her hair was brown, which reminded her of an old friend from Arcadia Bay.

 

Wait.

 

Officer Price, Captain Price? 

 

“Chloe Price?” Max blurts out.

 

The police officer turns back suddenly. “What? How did you know my first name?”

 

“You’re a pirate,” Max responds. “Remember?”

 

Chloe put on a puzzled expression, and her face flushes to an understanding expression. “First mate Max,” she responds warmly. She’s smiling, but her face turns into a frown. “How did you get mixed up in this?” Chloe’s face turns to worry. 

 

“I can’t tell you without a lawyer. Remember why we’re doing this?” Max smiles.

 

“I thought you knew it was me?” Max asks.

 

“Guess I wasn’t thinking that way. Sorry, Max. I still gotta leave you here, though,” Officer Price replies.

 

“Can-Can you release me?” Max asks in a small, timid voice.

 

Chloe shakes her head. “‘Fraid not, Max. I need to keep some air of professionalism. I’ll do my best to play favorites as long as it doesn’t look like I’m playing favorites,” Chloe leans in winking and leaves the interrogation room.


	2. Reminiscient

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe hates the smell of smoke. But she does it anyway. She seems to do it anytime the name Victoria Chase pops up. Something in her body just enables her to take some stress off of the thoughts that accompany her mind when she thinks of Victoria.
> 
> Victoria.. in her bed, naked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, I am not a slut for pricechase. (Chaseprice?)

Chloe stands outside the police department as she pulls out a smoke from her carton. Old habits die hard, Chloe muses as she lights the cigarette and blows a puff into the cold air. At least she made the switch from cigarettes and pot to just cigarettes right before the job interview. And now she’s doing just cigarettes, even though it’s even worse than weed.

A light series of taps comes from her right. Chloe drops her smoke to the floor and mashes it with her shoe. She looks apprehensively in the direction the noise came from. It’s just Officer Berry. Chloe lets out a breath of relief and zips up her black leather jacket. Her badge shines in the moonlight. She likes it, because it makes her feel like a superhero. Chloe eyes the parking meter right in front of her. It’s expired. 

She looks for a sheet of paper to write a ticket. When she’s about to tape it to the windshield, it has none. Because it’s a truck.

Her truck.

I really should stop smoking cigarettes, Chloe considers as she settles into the vehicle and sticks the key in the ignition. The car lights up with a powerful roar. She switches the radio station on as she thumbs through the radio channels while simultaneously putting on her seatbelt. Needless to say, there’s a miscalculation somewhere since something isn’t working out. She lowers the volume of the blaring hard rock channel to focus on her seatbelt. Once that’s situated, she shifts the gear to drive and escapes the parking position and heads on to the street.

The hard rock station plays Immigrant Song as Chloe drives at sixty two miles per hour, barely crossing the legal speed limit. The drive is short from the police department to her apartment given to her by the police district, so it’s okay to bend the rules a bit. 

She looks to her six pack of beer in the passenger seat hopefully, but the DUI cases discourage her from taking a sip. It’s probably warm anyway. Finally, she pulls up to her crappy apartment complex - of course, she says that of everything. Chloe parks into the underground parking compound, hitting the lock button on her keys twice to make it beep. 

Chloe heads into the lobby, waiting patiently for the elevator. She lives in apartment C3, fourth floor. The three and the fourth are a little confusing, but she reminds herself of Chloe when she considers the C. The elevator door opens and Chloe shuffles inside.

 

Everything has changed. When she got accepted into police academy, she had to change a lot of aspects about herself. She dropped the edgy punk look and adopted a more neutral tone.. She even canned her familiar dyed hair and went back to brown, though she opted for a darker shade. She loved the idea of her life simplified, but she yearned for her more entertaining wardrobe. 

Of course, she chose this. No one forced her into police academy, with the exception of Joyce, who barely restrained her overwhelming support. That didn’t come as a surprise, since Joyce wanted Chloe to have a job and get a decent education. Chloe worked as a police officer and had a high school diploma so she hoped that was enough to satisfy her mom, and it was.

Chloe arrived at the fourth floor. She walked three doors over to the left: C3. She fished the keys out of her jacket and turned the knob to enter her apartment. It was messy, just like she had left it before. The couch was dark brown and curved in the living room. There were crumbs strewn about it, and some of her dirty clothing was on the floor of the living room. Chloe reached down to pick it up and put it on the couch.

The TV wasn’t a huge feat, thirty two inches from last Christmas. She only watched Netflix and the occasional porno. To the left, she eyed the kitchen - black and white tiles, cereal all over the granite counters, plus a stainless steel refrigerator that made ice and water. The oven was electric, an updated type. 

Chloe set down her black leather wallet on the kitchen counter and walked into her room. The first thing she noticed was the half-eaten leftover pizza slice on a paper plate on top of her Xbox 360. She sunk down on the unmade bed, unbuttoning her pants and wiggling them off as she basketball dunks it in her laundry basket. 

Next, she unzips her jacket. Standing up, she goes in her small closet and put the jacket on a coat hanger. She grabbed her badge, setting it on her nightstand to the right of the bed. Laying down on her bed, Chloe unbuttoned her collared shirt and threw it, aiming for the laundry basket. She fell short as the shirt hit the floor. 

Chloe then reached around her back and fumbled around with her bra strap. Finally, she snagged it off and unhooked the bra, cupping her breasts with her hands, getting a general feel of them and nodding in approval. She put the bra in her drawer for use tomorrow. 

With that situated, Chloe locked her thumbs in her underwear and slid them down, shooting them in the dirty laundry basket and actually hitting her target. She opted for a pair of red plaid boxers that hung loose around her waist. She preferred them to regular shorts, since they were cheaper and weren’t as tight. 

She liked having no shirt on in the summers, but it was too cold to forego wearing a top. Chloe put on a plain black shirt, purchased from a ten pack at the men’s section. It was astounding how cheap it was. Of course, Chloe always felt that it was because of her being gay that made her want to shop at the men’s section, but at least she had the reason of practicality to fall back on. 

There’s nothing for her to do.

She could always give a call to a former one-night-stand and see if they’d be up for drinks, maybe she’ll fulfill that promise she always says at the end of the night  
But she decided against that. Her last one night stand was a month ago. With Victoria Chase.

Chloe likes to keep her romantic life private. If something was serious then she would of course yell it off the mountains. Nothing ever came up. She hasn’t been in a serious relationship since… Rachel. Too bad the investigation was called off before Chloe could get that case. She might conduct her own investigation, but she has actual work to do and her own time to waste.

Victoria Chase was different. Sort of.

Before Chloe dropped out, she knew Chase. They never talked, since they never saw each other. Chloe wasn’t into photography, or any of her classes, but especially photography. She got a D in that class. Lame.  
It didn’t matter that they never talked. They knew each other and they each had an air of dislike between them, because Rachel. Of course, neither of them talked about Rachel when they were doing it at her apartment.

…

Chloe was picking at her omelet from the Two Whales. She was on patrol duty, but they couldn’t blame her for taking a pit stop to grab a bite. She took a sweeping glance over the room. A few truckers, the teenagers skipping class. Chloe recognized one of them as Justin. She didn’t want to talk to him because she needed to look like she was doing some kind of job. 

The bell on the door rang. Chloe looked up in interest, afraid that it was the police chief coming in to reprimand her for not working. Instead, it was Victoria Chase. She looked disheveled and her movements were lethargic. Either she just woke up or she just had sex. It was a change from her arrogant manner. Chloe looked around carefully, then pulled out a flask disguised as a tampon from her pocket and dumped some whiskey in her coffee. She put it back in her pocket. 

The coffee was much easier to stomach after that. 

Chloe eyed Victoria, who was overlooking the menu, her phone on the table. She could head over there, give Miss Chase a little visit, but for what? Victoria could file a complaint in a snap and have her fired. Not to mention she was also loaded.

Well, maybe if she plays her cards right Victoria could pay off her loans. 

She chugged the rest of her coffee and shuffled over to Victoria’s booth. She is staring down on her phone, and does not notice or hear Chloe take a seat quietly next to her. She wouldn’t be any good on the force, Chloe thought with a small smile. Finally, Victoria shuts off her phone and settled her eyes upon Chloe, almost jumping out of her seat.

“Fuck, you scared the crap out of me,” Victoria exclaimed. Chloe smirked at that. Victoria took a moment to regain her egotistical composure, despite her appearance practically begging her to be more humble. “Wait, why-what are you doing here?” 

“This is the fun part,” Chloe maintained her grin and flashed her badge at Victoria, who shifts ever so slightly in her seat.   
“Oh… You want money, don’t you?” Victoria still held her arrogant tone. “Thought you would’ve asked for it, and you certainly need some,” she added as an afterthought. Victoria made a show of reaching for her purse.

“Did you know trying to bribe an officer is a felony?”

Victoria stopped pulling bills out of her pocket. “So you’re going to arrest me?” Go ahead, then,” Victoria held out her arms straight ahead of her, to allow Chloe to handcuff her. “Not like I’d spend a minute in your jail, since my parents would have me on bail in an instant and your ass would be fired before you could even sit on it trying to protect this town.”

Chloe stood still, holding eye contact. Victoria’s confidence faltered somewhat.

“Your family don’t care about you that much,” Chloe commented.

God, she could practically see Victoria’s eyes bulging out of her eye sockets. It was comical. She rubbed her right arm vigorously.

“And why exactly do you think that?” She asked in a teasing voice.

“Well, they shipped you to a preppy boarding school just to get you off their backs.”

“You attended Blackwell too,” Victoria fires back.

“Yeah, then I got expelled, now I got a kickass job and a sexy uniform,” Chloe pointed to herself.

Victoria’s eyes gleamed with disdain as she looked down at her nails. “You’re such white trash.”

“Well, I moved out of my trailer park a month ago and I just called things off with my second cousin, so I’d have to disagree,” Chloe quipped. Victoria was willing to offer a small smile, but it quickly turned into a scowl as soon as she realized what she was doing.

Chloe leaned in closer to Victoria and whispered, “Hey, if you ever wanted to fuck the police, here’s your chance,” she said, pointing to herself.

Victoria scrunched up her nose. “If you tell me why we should hook up, I’m all yours,” she sneered.

“Well, we’re not related, right?”

Victoria rolled her eyes. “You already used up your incest joke. Try harder,” she urged.

“Because you’re hot and I’m ready.” Chloe replied.

“You can’t win my heart over by saying cheesy pickup-lines about pizza,” Victoria replied.

“Was that a pun? That sounded dangerously like a pun.”

She was holding back a chuckle, however. 

Chloe laughed as she pulled out a black notepad. She scribbled in 615-462-7435 and passed it over to Victoria. “Listen, if you ever drop your standards and your arrogant attitude, this is my number.” Chloe stood up and winked to Victoria, who flipped her off as a response. 

Player, she thought proudly. Walking back to her booth, she eyed the receipt. $13.64. Chloe pulled out a twenty and wrote down keep the change on the receipt, packed up her things, and walked out of the diner and into the parking lot, where her police car was parked. She took a seat and started the ignition, driving out of the lot.

She came to her apartment, parked the car, headed to the elevator, into her apartment. The typical run through. She unzipped her pants and left them on the floor of the living room. She turned on the TV and put her hand in her pants, feeling around a bit. Friends was playing. The episode where Pete, the millionaire Monica was dating for a while, drops the big news that he wants to become a UFC fighter when Monica thought he was proposing, and also when Phoebe was dating two guys at once.

Suddenly, Chloe’s phone vibrated. The Seven Nation Army ringtone played for a moment. Chloe let it ring initially, kind of because the vibration felt good, but then she had to answer it since it might’ve been her work. She glanced at the number on the phone. Unsaved. She swiped, answering the call and put the phone up to her ear.

“Hello?” Chloe said apprehensively.

“Oh. You actually gave me the right number,” Victoria’s voice came in, sounding sensuous.

“Well, I wasn’t joking about fucking the police,” Chloe said, equally as sultry.

“Then give me your address,” Victoria said softly, yet it still sounded demanding.

“Oceanside Apartments, room C3, floor four.” 

“Be there in fifteen minutes.”

“Wear lace,” Chloe said impishly.

“If I wear lace, you keep on your police uniform,” Victoria negotiated. 

“Deal.”

Victoria said a quick goodbye and hung up. Chloe picked up the blue uniform lying on the rug and got into them again. She also put on the police hat since she felt Victoria might like that.

Ten minutes passed. Chloe’s door rang. Immediately Chloe walked up to it, unlocking the door. Victoria looks up at her hopefully. Chloe doesn’t say a word as she guides Victoria to her room.   
...

Chloe still regretted that day. She felt icky about sleeping with a girl who was still in high school, especially since she was a few years older. Victoria made Chloe feel things, like relationship things. No one ever made her feel like that before. Victoria was... Special? She might be Queen Bitch, but Chloe still liked her. She idly scrolled through her missed calls until she saw a voicemail notification. The date was the day of Victoria's death. She pressed play and held her phone up to her ear. 

"Fuck, why am I even doing this.." Victoria's voice resonated through the speaker.

"Listen, I know I've been.. weird since that night but I just wanted to let you know that I felt the same way too," Victoria continued on, melancholy seeping into her voice. "And I think we could be something.. It feels weird saying this shit to a phone." Chloe could tell she smiled when she said that. "Anyway, just... call me back. Or don't. I don't give a shit. Or I do. Whatever. Bye." Chloe felt the phone hang up.

She felt anger. At herself. At Max. She had time. It's time. 

Not anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm all for angsty Chloe and dead Victoria. Hope you enjoyed.


	3. Jurisprudence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max's lawyer finally shows up. He's not what Max expected - a young, well spoken man who seems to know what's he's doing. But he's giving her the brutal facts of her situation and she's forced to an ultimatum.
> 
> God, she misses Chloe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Max and Chloe's relationship seed is carefully planted into the friendship dirt.

Max sat alone in the room, her hands drumming anxiously on the table. She’d been here for almost an hour, and still no sign of her ‘lawyer’. It was quiet, but she knew there was a microphone in somewhere. She could remember from Law and Order s.

Max tenses as she hears muffled noises right outside the door. She hopes it’s Chloe. Or better yet, her lawyer.

The door opens and a black man in a pressed blue suit with a red tie comes in, adjusting it. Max nods down as she eyes his brown oxfords. A smart outfit, slightly wrinkled. He carries a briefcase in his right hand, and a travelling coffee mug in the other. Max looks up at him. His dark brown hair is cut extremely short and had a receding hairline. His eyebrows weren’t outrageously furry, but they did vaguely resemble the state of Virginia. His eyes were a lazy hazel color, his nose big and stuffy. The small lips were pink and pursed. There were wisps of dark facial hair beginning to form a mustache. 

“Nice to meet you,” the man says in a husky voice that reminded her of a baritone saxophone. “I’m Dayton Briggs,” he greets, outstretching his hand. Max meets his large hand in hers and gives it a modest shake. “I’m the public attorney representing you,” Dayton continues. He speaks slow and soft, his words flowing gracefully like trapeze artists at a carnival. “Now, you are Maxine Caulfield, correct?”

She doesn’t bother to correct him as she nods politely.

Dayton nods idly as he thumbs through the opened briefcase. Max glances over, seeing a plethora of folders and papers. He’s pretty disorganized. 

“Now, the case in hand is the murder of Victoria Chase. The time of death was approximately 8:00 PM on November eleventh, two thousand and thirteen. The cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head, which was said to occurred in room 218, the room of a student named Dana Ward. Sources say you two were friends, is that correct?”

“Well,” Max begins, then stops because she’s not quite sure what a friend is anymore. “I talked to her a few times, but that’s it. I think she’s my friend.” 

Dayton scribbles something on a black pad. Max gets a sense of deja vu. 

“Alright, so you guys talked every once in awhile, maybe a quick greeting in the halls. Perfect,” Dayton says.

“The problem is that a particular ‘key eyewitness’ claims to have strong evidence supporting your involvement in the murder of Victoria Chase. I haven’t been able to get a glimpse at what it is, and a stupid confidentiality policy is stopping me from getting a name. Do you know anyone who didn’t like you, for any reason?” Dayton asks.

The first name that pops into Max’s head is Victoria Chase, but that didn’t seem feasible. Brooke Scott came up as well, and it’s possible she did it. She recalls the statement that Chloe read to her earlier. Victoria’s lackeys, Taylor and Courtney come to mind. Taylor is too mild-mannered to get involved, and Courtney is kind of apathetic about everything. 

“Um, no, not really,” Max stammers. Dayton raises an eyebrow, clearly skeptical. Max maps out Richmond mentally.

“Are you sure? This girl - or boy could really make the difference between a guilty or not guilty verdict.”

“Wait, I’m going to court?” Max asks incredulously.

Dayton looks thoughtful, as he glances towards the ceiling. “I’m not too sure, truthfully. They claim to have you up on accomplice charges, but I don’t believe it. The only thing proving their claims is this supposed key witness that’s supposed to blow this case out of the water. Says that they have video evidence of you attempting to dispose of the body in the trash can.”

Dayton leans in closer, suddenly. “Listen, if you can tell the police who did this, they might reduce your possible sentence, get you a plea deal, if you’re convicted. You can either say you know and tell them who did it or say you don’t know. But you know, right?” His voice was below a whisper, barely audible.

Max isn’t sure if she can trust Dayton. But she told Chloe, a cop, that she knew, so the damage is done. “Y-yes,” Max breathes.

“Okay. Just tell me who did it, and we’ll see if they’ll remove the charges.”

Max contemplates this. “I can’t rat out my friend.” 

“Listen, there are two scenarios that can happen. One, you and your friend go to jail. Two, your friend goes to jail, you walk. I’m not judging you either way, just make your choice. Her or you?” Dayton holds his fingers up as a gesture.

Max takes a deep breath. She never thought she would get mixed up in this. Things were simpler before. Now, Max is deciding whether to rat out her friend to save her own neck or to stay silent and spend time in jail. If only she could rewind time.. Max could lie, say it was Justin or Logan. Logan did knock up Dana and beat up Daniel.

“Uh… Logan Robertson,” Max stutters.

“Motive?”

She didn’t prepare that far. “Victoria said he was the father of Dana’s baby and he got ragey.” 

Dayton winces.

He closes his notebook and clasps his hands together. “Okay! I’m going to tell the police officer what you said, and then we’ll both get out of here. Deal?” 

“Wait, how long is that going to take?” Max asks in a worried tone.

“Up to an hour probably. The wheels of justice move slow. Nice meeting you,” Dayton says before closing the door.

Max sits, more disheartened from the talk with the lawyer than inspired. She missed Chloe, despite their abrupt and unconventional meetup. Chloe would help her, she was sure. Max did fear that Chloe would still hold a grudge from Max moving away right after her father died, unintentionally. But Chloe seemed different now in so many ways.

Max steepled her fingers. A coffee travel mug from Dunkin’ Donuts was left by Dayton. Max considers the possibility of it being for her. However, if it was for her, Dayton would simply just say so. Eh. He left anyway.

Max opens the coffee lid. Steam rises up in a white cloud into the air. Max inhales the coffee and feels the warmth from it. Leaning it down in her mouth, the black liquid flows over her tongue. Quickly, she sets it down, swallowing an entire gulp. The coffee was bitter, and had a faint taste of vodka. Max lets out a warm breath and tilts her head back so it hits the one way glass. She hits it again and again, hoping that it will make time go faster. Suddenly she missed Dayton’s company.

…

Some time passes. Max isn’t sure how long it is; it could be two minutes or two hours, What she knows is that the interrogation door opens, with a beefy police officer leaning in the doorway jutting his thumb towards the hall and saying “Caulfield, you’re free to go.”  
Max stands up swiftly and leaves the interrogation room in a hasty retreat. She hears the police officer say to her, “You forgot your coffee, lady,” but Max doesn’t turn back. She heads out of the police precinct from the glass doors and finds herself outside.

The night is pitch black, save for a few car lights throughout the streets. Max turns on her phone, and the bright white screen reveals that the time is 10:11 PM. It’s far too late for the bus to pick her up and she has no idea where she even is. Max picks through her bag for some change. She finds twelve dollars in fives and singles. Might be enough for a cab. 

Max searches up the number for an Arcadia Bay taxi on her phone. She punches in the number on the keypad and presses the phone to her ear.

A man's gruff voice resonates through the telephone. “Hello”?

 

Max hesitates for a second. “Hi. I’d like to call a cab.”

“Where you at, sweetheart?” 

Max is thrown off by the pet name. “Um..” Max turns behind her. “Arcadia Bay police precinct.”

“Ha. Got in trouble, huh? Fine by me. Where you going?”

“Prescott Dormitory.” 

“Sure. Be there in about ten minutes.”

“Thank you,” Max says and hangs up.

It’s too cold and dark to wait outside and Max is already shivering. She considers going back inside the police building, but that would be weird. Instead she sits on the bench right next to the sliding glass door. Hugging herself for warmth as she breathes in deeply to a snooze.

…

Max wakes up to a guy with wisps of gray hair in a bushy black beard and a receding hairline shaking her.

Once Max opens her eyes, the guy sorts of backs away and holds his hands up in innocence. She is too groggy to register what happened and instead mumbles a small “What?” 

“Hey, I’m the cabbie. I wasn’t trying to hurt you or anything, I swear. I’ve been waiting almost fifteen minutes and was this close to leaving you here,” the cab driver speaks over himself, as if anxious to make his point. “Then I saw you passed out and I was worried you were going to get mugged or something,” he explains. 

Max sits up then, rubbing her neck. “Oh.. Okay. Sorry,” she apologizes and walks to the cab pulled over. The taxi starts to heat up as the driver goes onto the road.

The drive itself is uneventful. Max is too tired to absorb the surroundings around her and instead attempts to keep her eyes open despite the dark and cushiony interior of the taxi cab. It feels like leather with some rough patches.

The cab pulls to a stop inside the parking lot. The driver looks at Max expectantly. “Pay up. Just because you’re young doesn’t mean you walk off free.”

“I-I wasn’t planning to,” Max admits. “How much is it?” 

“Ten bucks. Plus tip,” the driver responds.

Max hands him all the money she has. She watches the cabbie count it out and look at her, giving a nod of approval. Max opens the door and leaves the taxi, who peels away in the dark. 

Walking slowly toward the dorms using her phone as a flashlight, Max prays that drunk Principal Wells isn’t there to tell her she’s breaking curfew and busts her. Thankfully, no one is on campus. She slowly steps to the doors and pulls out her keys. When she enters the hall, it’s dark.

Max stays to the right of the wall and turns off her flashlight, in fear someone might notice. She passes Dana’s room, which has yellow crime scene tape on the door as a large X. Victoria Chase’s room is the same. Max approaches her door and fumbles with the knob in the dark until the door is open. Mx flips on the switch and the room lights up.

It’s messier than usual, her clothes strewn about on her bed. She’s far too tired to move them as she flops down. Closing her eyes for a brief second, her phone rings. Max glances over at it. An unknown number. She considers ignoring it, but it could always be something important.

Max tentatively swipes to answer the call. “Hello?”

A familiar voice responds. “ ‘Sup, Max?”

Max sighs audibly. “Chloe? How did you even get my number?”

“Uh, police records.” 

“Whatever. Why are you calling me anyway? Isn’t that a conflict of interest?”

Chloe is silent for a few seconds. “I think we should hang out. I wanna know what’s going on with Max Caulfield! Grown up edition.” 

Max eases slightly from Chloe’s nonchalant tone. “Nothing interesting, besides being a murder suspect..”

“Oh yeah, did they release you? Or are you using your one phone call on me?”

“Um, you were the one who called me. And yeah, they did release me. Some lawyer came in and got me released.”

“Just wanted to make sure they didn’t strap you to the electric chair yet. Cool. Dayton? He’s not a bad public attorney. Maybe a bit of a drunk,” Chloe replies.

“Yeah. Mr. Briggs. He seemed as nice as lawyers can be. Left me his coffee. I tried to drink it, but it was black.” 

“What, you don’t like black stuff?” 

Max blushes. “I-No! It’s not like that, Chloe!” 

Chloe’s bubbly laughter bellows through the phone. “Kidding. It’s cute to see you all flustered.” 

“You’re such an ass.”

“Shouldn’t insult a cop,” Chloe warns in a sing-songy voice.

“But,” Chloe begins. “Tomorrow. Two Whales. 9:00 AM. I’ll drive you to school after.”

“Don’t you have work?” 

She snorts. “I’m on call on Fridays.”

“Oh?”

“Doesn’t matter, they won’t miss me.Two Whales. Be there or be square. Since you’re not a-round.” Chloe laughs at her own joke.

“Dork.”

“Hipster.” 

“Murderer. See you tomorrow. Bye.” Chloe hangs up.  
Max plugs her phone to charge and passes out as soon as she takes her shoes off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An update on the legal front with Max's... thing


	4. Confabulation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe and Max finally get to talking. She learns more about Police Chloe, Authorative Chloe, Getting Her Shit Together Chloe, but Max wants Real Chloe. Chloe doesn't want Max to know Real Chloe, so she makes sure their conversation doesn't even scrape the surface of her personaliy.
> 
> Only Victoria liked Real Chloe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Light-hearted Max and Chloe banter.

An alarm clock rouses Chloe from sleep. Grumbling, she presses the snooze buttons and shuts her eyes to fall back asleep. Five minutes later, her ‘don’t press snooze you little shit’ alarm comes up on her phone. Defeated, she sits up on the unkempt bed and rubs her eyes. Her digital alarm clock says 8:35. 

 

“Shit,” Chloe says aloud. She’s supposed to meet Max in thirty minutes. Chloe stands up and begins taking off her clothes quickly. Once she’s completely undressed, she grabs her towel from the rack on her door and rushes to the bathroom. 

 

The bathroom sink is porcelain white except for some blue drops of toothpaste in the bowl. A red Solo cup to the left of the faucet has a green toothbrush with frayed bristles. To the right, a crumpled Colgate toothpaste tube with its cap opened. A few inches above lies the oak medicine cabinet; empty save for a few creams, some body spray, razors, used flossing picks, and a box of Trojans. 

 

Below the faucet is another cabinet, which has a pair of yellow rubber gloves that are a large fit on Chloe’s hands. There’s also a bottle of rubbing alcohol next to an off-brand bathroom cleaner strengthened with bleach. 

 

The toilet is porcelain white. Its lid is open. On top of the tank cover is a thin toilet paper roll and a dark blue razor. 

 

The shower was a tall rectangular glass box that reached the ceiling with a small metallic drain on the bottom and a detachable shower head a few feet above it. Below the shower head was a black shower caddy that had a few soap bars and an eight month old loofah. Chloe went to the sink and took out her toothbrush from the cup, wetting it before covering the bristles with toothpaste. She holds the brush in her mouth, moving it around occasionally whilst turning on the shower. 

 

Stepping into the shower, Chloe immediately backs out of where the water was flowing and swears. The water was practically scalding. She dips her hand under the water for a brief second to turn the blue knob slightly to the right. The water temperature got slightly cooler to the point where it was just extremely warm. 

 

Content, Chloe shuffles into the gush of water and begins to massage shampoo into her hair. She rinses and repeats, applying conditioner after the second time. That situated, she lathers her body with a soap bar in the shower caddy twice. Once she finishes rinsing off the suds, she shuts off the shower and steps out into the warm air. 

 

Chloe wraps the towel around her armpits, which she uses to hold in place, and goes back to her room. The first thing Chloe does is check her phone for an email. Sure enough, the agenda for the day is already forwarded to her. Curiously, Chloe opens the email to see her post. 

 

Agenda - Police department #53, L-P 10:00 to 18:00

 

Off. Lamb - Patrol Duty  
Off. Lucano - Parking Duty  
Off. Nugent - Patrol Duty  
Off Perez. - On Call  
Off. Price - On Call

 

Chloe pumps her fist in the air. Now she won’t have to blow off work, unless a call comes on during brunch. Chloe starts by putting on a pair of light purple boyshorts and her black bra. Next comes on her undershirt, and she finishes getting dressed by putting on her official police uniform. Chloe always feels confident when she wears it. 

 

Chloe eyes the alarm clock. It reads 8:58. As she puts on her boots, she calls up Max.

 

“Hello?” Max answers.

 

“Mad Max! I’m going to be a little late to our brunch meeting today. Are you there yet?” Chloe asks.

 

“No, I’m on the bus. I’m not surprised, though.”

 

Chloe mocks offense. “What’s that supposed to mean?” 

 

“Well, you never cared for punctuality.” 

 

“Maybe that’s why I failed English,” Chloe quips.

 

Max snorts. “Right. But don’t sweat it Chlo, I’m late too.” 

 

“Yeah, you are,” Chloe huffs.

 

“Talk to you when I get there, okay?”

 

“Okay. Wait, Max-” Chloe begins.

 

“Yeah? What’s up?” Max’s worried tone can be heard through the speaker.

 

“How sexy is the police uniform? On a scale of one to ten?” 

 

Max groans. “Seriously?”

 

“Yeah, seriously.”

 

The line is silent for a few seconds, as if Max is seriously considering it. “Seven. Can I go now?”

 

Chloe grins. “Really?” 

 

“I--No-Wai--” Max stammers.

 

“Say no more, Max. You have a police fetish,” Chloe states mischievously. 

 

“I’m hanging up. Bye.” Chloe hears the dial tone.

 

With a grin, Chloe saunters into the kitchen, her phone in her hand as she prepares to make a cup of coffee. The coffee machine is solid black, including a button of similar color on the bottom of it. A clear pitcher with white lines and numbers rests on it. 

 

Chloe opens its lid and places a coffee filter. While the coffee is being made, Chloe scrolls on her phone, bored. A notification pops up on the top of her screen and she opens it. It’s an e-mail from her job.

 

Off. Price, go to my officer before you start your shift at 10:00 AM. Need to talk with you briefly.

 

Chief Ottoman

 

Chloe, stunned, sets down her phone. The email was awfully cryptic, and ‘need to talk’ was never a good thing. Her coffee machine makes a noise signalling that the coffee is ready. Chloe puts in some cream and sugar before taking a brief sip. Once she finishes the drink, she heads out of her apartment into the parking lot. She checks the time once more. 9:11. The truck starts up with a roar as Chloe peels off into the road.

 

…

 

When Chloe gets to Two Whales, Max is already there with a mug of steaming black liquid. Max looks towards the table as Chloe takes a seat. 

 

“What up, Maximillan? I’m running out of Max puns now,” Chloe says energetically.

 

“Hey Chloe. Or should I say Officer Price?” Max greets.

 

Chloe doesn’t answer as she bangs her fists lightly on the table. “Did you order yet?” She asks.

 

“I just got here like five minutes ago and the only thing I had was coffee. But some waitress gave me a menu,” Max hands over the menu to Chloe, who skims through it quickly.

 

“I think I’ll have a bigfoot bacon omelet. I’ve never tried bigfoot meat before,” Chloe grins. 

 

Max takes the menu back and opens it to the breakfast page. “I think I’ll take the Morning Glory Waffle. Sounds pretty good.”

 

“Sweet. Where’s the waitress, anyway?”

 

“I don’t know… She was here earlier. Maybe she isn’t into cops.” 

 

“Because she’s a hooker?” Chloe asks deviously. 

 

Max’s face flushes with red. “Just call her over,” she insists.

 

“Fine, fine,” Chloe agrees. 

 

Chloe looks for the nearest waiter. When she eyes one wiping the counter, she calls out to her. “Excuse me, miss. We’re good to go.” 

 

The waitress smiles and mouths “okay” before setting down the rag and walking over to their booth with a notepad in her thin hands. The waitress wears her long blonde hair in a high ponytail with a red scrunchie. She wears a blue shirt with a red name tag that says “Sarah”. 

 

“Officer,” Sarah nods to Chloe.

 

“What would you ladies like to order?” She asks in a Boston accent. 

 

“We’d like a Bigfoot Bacon Omelette with a side of Bigfoot bacon, and also a Morning Glory Waffle and two glasses of orange juice. Right?” She looks at Max expectantly. Max gives a nod. 

 

“Okay, I’ll be back soon with your drinks,” the waitress says and walks off into the kitchen. 

 

Max and Chloe chat politely over orange juice, mostly catching up about Seattle and Arcadia Bay. Chloe told her about some of her police duties, and the craziest cases she’s heard until the waitress brings them both their food. Max chews slowly, savoring the taste. Chloe, on the other hand, chews quickly and greedily. 

 

“So,” Chloe begins while masticating her food, “Why haven’t you called me in the last five years?” 

 

Max expected this question. Before she speaks, Chloe holds up a hand, “No excuses.” 

 

“I don’t have any. It’s totally my fault,” Max admits softly.

 

Chloe sighs as she swallows the mouthful of food. “Nah, you’re right. I shouldn’t be holding you to this no call or text shit. I’m a grown up now,” Chloe says, mainly to herself.

 

“It’s not your fault, Chloe,” Max says in a comforting tone.

 

Chloe doesn’t respond, instead digging into her food. “This food is amazing,” Chloe says, changing the topic.

 

“It really is,” Max agrees. “What made you want to go into the force? I would’ve thought you’d be more.. Rebellious.” 

 

Chloe stifles a laugh. “Well, Mom always wanted me to get my shit together. So I got a diploma and applied to the police academy. Mainly for shiggles, though.”

 

“Shiggles?” 

 

“Shits and giggles,” Chloe clarifies. “Anyway, so I was hella surprised when I got in. I talked about it with Mom, and she said it was a respectable career with good money if you spent enough time in it. Plus, I wouldn’t be with David, pretty cool, huh? I fucking hated him before I got in the academy. They taught me about discipline and ‘respecting your elders’, all that shit.”

 

“So, they took me in for a written test and a personality test. I’m not sure how I did on the personality test, but I didn’t say hella more than twice, and I think I passed the exam,” Chloe continues. “Next thing I know, I’m getting called back saying I was accepted to the academy, so I get super excited. We did all kinds of shit there-- firearms, exercise, a lot of patrolling, survival skills, they even had this fake town and we practiced a bunch of scenarios like a school shooter, domestic violence, that was the best part.”

 

“Sounds like it was good,” Max comments.

 

“It was,” Chloe muses. “So, what was Seattle like?” 

 

“I was a shy, average looking girl in a city school. Nothing interesting ever happened. Sorry it wasn’t as cool as your police academy adventures.” 

 

“Sweet. So Seattle sucked?” 

 

“Not really, just wasn’t exciting.” 

 

Chloe and Max chatted about Washington for a while until Chloe’s radio hissed and a man’s rushed voice came through. 

 

“TRUCK VS TREE. BLACKWELL ST. 10-52.” The radio cuts out.

 

Max looks concerned. “What does 10-52 mean?” 

 

Chloe stands up quickly, shoving the last morsels of food in her mouth. “Ambulance needed. I gotta go, Max. Nice talking to you.” Chloe rushes out the door. Max arranges for her food to be put in a styrofoam bag while she foots the bill, plotting revenge on Chloe since she left without paying for her share.  
...

 

Chloe drives at the speed limit because now she has to obey laws. Another radio crackle came through. “TEN FOUR ON TEN FIFTY TWO.” Chloe groans. Now she has to go back to the diner and pick Max up since the car crash was taken care of. 

 

She checks her phone for a quick second as she realizes it’s 9:52. She had to talk to the chief about the thing. Chloe takes the exit on the highway to the police department, parks in the lot, and heads in the glass doors.

 

“Chief’s looking for you, Price,” Officer Jackson comments. 

 

“I know,” Chloe says with a slight edge.

 

Chloe walks to the Chief Ottoman’s office and knocks on the mahogany door. 

 

“Come in,” Ottoman says.

 

Chloe opens the door and sits on a cheap cushiony chair. Chief Ottoman looks up at her with big gray eyes. He had a slim figure and a pale clean shaven face. Crow’s feet were under his eyes and a few wrinkles on his forehead. His pink ears were flat against the side of his head and were tall, like an elf’s. His receding black hair with some wisps of gray was styled into a side part. His outfit was like Chloe’s, except with a tie and two breast pockets. He spoke in a Boston accent. 

 

“Price.. You’re a good cop. That I’ll admit. Apparently there is a conflict of interest regarding the Chase case,” Chief Ottoman begins. Chloe shifts ever so slightly in her seat. She knows exactly where he’s going.

 

“Chief, I have it under control,” Chloe reassures.

 

“I want to believe that, but do you? We both know you barely passed the academy. Your disobedience and rebellious tendencies made three overseers recommend you not to be let into the force, but Officer Kean gave you a stellar review. ‘Hardworking and skilled,’ that’s what she said. So I gave you a chance and you proved yourself.”

 

Officer Nicole Kean. Chloe did remember her. She slept with her in exchange for an ‘honest’ evaluation. 

 

“But,” Ottoman continues. “There are claims you had.. Personal relations with Victoria Chase. I want you off the case. Officer Jonas will take your place.”

 

“That’s bullshit!” she shouts. “Who said I had ‘personal relations’ with Victoria?” 

 

“That’s confidential. The point is, we have very strong evidence to support that.”

 

“Oh yeah?” Chloe huffs. “What evidence?” 

 

“Locker checks are mandatory now, and when we checked yours, we found this,” Chief pulls out a plastic baggie that has a piece of black lace underwear with a pink ribbon. “Stolen from the evidence cabinet. Why would you take this, Chloe?”

 

She sighs and shifts her eyes away from Ottoman and instead to the wall. “Giving a close examination of the evidence using all the senses,” Chloe teases.

 

Ottoman ignores her. “I want you off the case. No exceptions. Complain about it and you’re pencil pushing for two weeks. Got it? And watch out for the misconduct.”

 

She swallows hard, desperately trying to hold back her retort. “Yes, Chief.”

 

“Good. Out of my office, Price,” the chief juts a finger toward the door. Chloe stands up and leaves, dragging her feet as she slams the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one wasn't as polished.. Next few chapters will not be as low in quality.
> 
> Next chapter: Subplots are introduced, plots on plots on plots!


	5. Sodality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max and Chloe hang out in Chloe's apartment. Max snoops a bit too. Max sees things. Max stops snooping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry the big word chapter title isn't so big. Was hard to find a decent one word main idea for this chapter.

Max arrives in AP English, panting as she struggles to catch her breath. The other students look at her curiously, while a few snicker and whisper. Max blushes, slowly ambling to her seat next to Kate Marsh, who is scribbling in her notebook. The class itself is loud and full of laughing, a random sub is writing in Mrs. Hoida’s chair. On the board is a textbook page next to numbers 1-18 ALL underlined. No one seems to be doing the work, only a few blank pages are out.

When Max sits down next to Kate, she offers her a warm smile.

“Hey Kate,” Max greets.

“Hi, Max.”

Max considers whether or not to bring up the murder. “How are you feeling?” She subtly pries.

Kate heaves. “I-I don’t know how to feel,” she admitted morosely. “It’s hard to not feel sad about her..” she trails off as she looks at Max, carefully eyeing her expression. Max breaks eye contact and lets her eyes drop down to her opened notebook.

“I.. I get it,” Max finally says. “I mean, Victoria was a total bitch, but she didn’t deserve what happened to her.” Kate gives a quick nod in agreement.

“Yeah. It’s hard to feel normal,” Kate sighs. 

“Totally. Let’s finish these questions. Maybe Mrs. Hoida will come back to check them,” Max grins, easing the conversation. The two get to work.

…

Max breezes through the rest of her classes. No one has anything important to say regarding the murder, and most students suspect Nathan killed her, since he hasn’t shown up in a few weeks. Max suspects it’s grief.

During cultural anthropology, Max receives a text from Chloe.

C: booted off the case  
chief thought i was 2 cool   
now some guy is gonna interrogate u  
hes not as nice as me

Max holds the phone under her desk and turns the brightness all the way down.

M: They’re going to interrogate me again? O_O

And then Chloe’s response.

C: oops police secret  
but NO EMOJI

M: Not even sure how I’d make an emoji while I’m being waterboarded.

C: waterboarding is for terrorists and guantanamo bay nerd  
and i didnt even use autocorrect for that  
dont text in class 

M: If you say so, Captain. I’ll talk to you later.

Max turns off her phone with a click. The rest of the class is uneventful, until she manages to get a word in with Trevor.

“Hey, Trevor. How are you feeling?” Max is hesitant to speak; she knows Trevor must have been asked that a dozen times today.

“Hi, Max. I miss Dana. I hope she won’t get arrested. I don’t think she did it since she’s a nice chick,” he responds. “Weren’t you friends with her?” 

“Uh, yeah I guess,” Max admits awkwardly. 

“Then you must be bummed out too, Maximus. I’ll talk to you later.” Trevor walks off.

Max is surprised at his abrupt leave, but decides to leave it at intense grief. She finishes the rest of her classes and finally is able to retire back to her dorm. When she gets back, she calls Chloe.

Chloe picks up after three rings. “Hello?”

“Chloe, you free today?” Max asks.

“Well I have work, but fuck that,” Chloe replies. “Why, what’s up?” 

“I need a mental time out today. Classes are exhausting.” 

“I’m glad they expelled me. I’ll pick you up from your dorm, cool?” 

“Cool. See you then, chauffeur.”

“That’s Officer Chauffeur to you, citizen,” Chloe huffs. Max giggles and the girls say their goodbyes to each other. 

While Max waits for Chloe, she ponders their relationship. She didn’t really expect their meetup to be like this. She expected that Chloe would save her from some problem and she would be all pissed off since she never called her, and just left when her dad died. Chloe was oddly apologetic, considering that she told her that she went through a rebellious phase, and even showed her a few pictures.

Max could recall asking “You smoked weed?” in a shocked tone. Chloe waved it off with a retort. “Stop being so naive, Max. It’s almost legal. Soon I won’t have to bust snobby Blackwell kids for their grass.” 

If Max was honest, Chloe felt more intimidating now. Besides the whole cop thing, Chloe was sort of a grown-up now. She is older than her, but it was more than that. Chloe, as surprising as it sounds, was more mature than Max. She still swore and said ‘hella’ all the time of course. It was more than that, though - Chloe was able to forgive Max so easily. She was still proud of her for becoming a police officer. 

A text lights up Max’s phone. 

C: im here selfie ho

Max mentally groaned. She knew Chloe would bring it up after Max admitted Victoria called her that once.

M: Parking lot?

C: no, going lot  
trolololo

M: 2010 much? 

C: says the one who still uses a polaroid

M: Low blow, Chlo. I’m going out now.

C: okie dokie

Max packs up her things and leaves the dorms. 

When Max gets in Chloe’s truck, she offers her a quick greeting and they set off to Chloe’s place. The drive is boring since it’s mostly just small talk. Nothing deep. After a while, Chloe pulls over to her complex and parks.

“Nice apartment,” Max comments.

“You haven’t even seen it yet,” Chloe quips.

They get inside the lobby and into the elevator until Chloe manages to turn the lock over and enters the apartment with Max.

“Damn Chloe, don’t you ever clean your living room?” is Max’s first impression.

“Don’t have time ‘cause I’m saving lives and shit. Take a seat on the couch. I’ll join you in a second,” Chloe heads to the small kitchen. “I have some chips and salsa, if you want.” 

“Yeah, that’d be nice,” Max answers.

Max slowly walks over to Chloe’s couch. It’s littered with clothes strewn around the cushions, but she moves a plain white t-shirt off one and sits down. 

Wait, something isn’t right. I’m not being nosy.

“Hey, Chloe? I’m going to the bathroom,” Max calls out.

“Cool,” Chloe replies. “Go straight down the hall until you reach the door at the end. That’s the bathroom.”

Max mutters a quick thanks and goes inside the bathroom. Immediately, she starts thumbing the medicine cabinets. There’s nothing scandalous except for a box of not so hidden condoms. It is odd she wears AXE body spray. 

There’s nothing interesting here. She might find something good in Chloe’s bedroom. Max has already gone this far. The door is on her left. She notes the room is like the living room. Messy. She has some paper plates stacked on her nightstand. 

Max opens the top nightstand drawer. Nail clippers, lotion, tissues, and two half full plastic water bottles. She goes to the bottom one. Some socks and a bible? Interesting. Max looks under the socks and spots a Hitachi magic wand. Blushing, Max takes it out of the drawer and holds it. She tries to keep her hand away from the vibrator head. It’s weird, but Max can definitely picture Chloe.. 

Max shakes her head and perishes the thought. She puts the vibrator back in the drawer and leaves her room. That’s enough violation of privacy for one day. When she comes back to the living room, Chloe is sitting in her spot, dipping tortilla chips in a salsa jar. 

“Max, you took forever in the bathroom,” Chloe says in a muffled voice from the chips. 

“Sorry.” 

“I’m not mad. Unless you dropped a deuce and clogged the toilet.” 

“I did not ‘drop a deuce’, Chloe,” Max assures. 

“If you say so,” She shrugs. “Sit next to me,” she gestures with her hand. Max unfolds her arms and shambles over by Chloe. They’re a little too close, so Max scoots slightly away from her.

“So, any Blackwell bros you’re into? Or Blackwell babes?” Chloe faces Max with a smug grin, just to see her blush.

“No. I’m still single,” Max admits.

“Well, which is it? Bros or hoes?” 

“No preference I guess,” she shrugs. “I don’t like labels.”

“That’s fine. No one’s forcing you to commit to one team or another.” 

“What about you, Chloe? Bros or hoes?” Max presses.

“I play on the softball team, if you catch my drift,” Chloe smirks. 

It takes Max a second, but she understands.

“I’ll be right back, Maximum Overdrive. I’m off to take a dump,” she announces proudly. 

Unfortunately Max has done all the snooping she could possibly do. Instead she goes on her phone for a while, texting Warren and Kate. After taking a selfie, she drops her phone in between the couch cushions.

“Fuck,” she says softly as she blindly reaches her hand in between to retrieve the phone. Her hand brushes against a large piece of clothing. She pulls it out of the cushions. A red plaid pair of boxer briefs. Feeling queasy, she frantically tries to stuff the pair of underwear in between the cushions. Chloe is standing behind her, watching Max silently. 

“Get a good sniff?” She asks loudly. Max cringes and turns to face her, briefs still in hand. 

“I wasn’t trying to be nosy. My phone was in the couch but these were in the way.” Max picks out her words carefully to avoid placing any blame on herself. “Whose are those?” She questions. The box of condoms comes back in her mind.

Chloe’s eyes bounce around the room awkwardly, as if embarrassed. “Mine,” she admits. 

Max unconsciously looks down at her crotch. Chloe notices this and backs away. “No, Max! I do not have a dick. I just think they’re comfortable and I like all the space in them.” Her tone is a decrescendo, starting at very loud to very soft. 

“I know,” Max says defensively. “I just.. Are you wearing some right now?” 

Chloe smirks and starts undoing her jeans. She pulls them down to her thighs to reveal blue checkered boxers. Max blushes violently and turns away.

“Believe me now?” Chloe asks smugly.

“Yes, I do,” Max says in a breathy tone. “Just.. put your pants back on.” Chloe abides and zips her jeans up with a grin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Love blunt Chloe. Probably the last chapter where I write in present tense. Who knows? I may keep it for consistency.


	6. Beguilement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max gets a court summons. Panicked, she alerts multiple people including a geek, a police officer, and a Christian. Sounds like an opener for a joke. "A geek, cop, and a Christian go into a bar..."
> 
> Btw sorry this took so long. No computer makes it harder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love the world beguilement because it has like five totally different meanings, some of which include deception, flirtation, or amusement. And we have all three of them right here!

A few days after hanging out with Chloe, Max receives a letter.

You are hereby ordered to attend and give evidence at the trial of Chase Vs. Ward on 11/20/2013, at 9:00am, in courthouse US DISTRICT COURT in Tacoma, WA.”

The letter is concise. She has been summoned to attend a court hearing in Tahoma. Not sure of her rights as a witness, she consults Chloe. Chloe at least has some ties to law and order. 

The phone rings six times but the only response Max gets is Chloe’s voicemail. “Leave a message.” Max expected a snarky remark. Instead of leaving a message, she calls Warren. 

The phone only has to ring once. “Hello?” Warren’s voice comes through the speaker. It’s a light tone, a bit hesitant. 

“Hey Warren, it’s me. I just have some questions for you,” Max starts pacing around the room, letter in hand. 

“Oh. Hi Max,” Warren eases slightly. “Sure. What’s up?” 

“So, if someone got a court summons as a witness, what are their rights?” 

“What do you mean?”

“Like.. What can they do when they have to testify in court?” Max stops pacing to skim through the letter again. 

Rustling noises are heard through the phone. “A summons is a subpoena. You don’t have to talk to the defendant or their attorney. You might have to do this thing called a deposition, which is basically swearing under oath you won’t lie. You should tell the truth, because if you don’t they could arrest you for perjury, lying under oath. If you don’t know a question, don’t guess or make something up; just say ‘I don’t know’. If you talked to any law officers, just say so. Like the police or a lawyer..” Warren rambles on, getting excited the more he speaks.

Max attempts to process this information. 

“Thanks. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” Max hangs up before Warren can say goodbye.  
She picks up her phone again and calls Chloe. This time, the phone rings just three times. “What up, Max?” Chloe greets cheerily.

“Hey Chlo. Did you get this letter saying you had to go to court on..” Max looks at the date. “November 20th?” 

“Yeah,” Chloe confirms. 

“Wait, what? Why?” Max hurriedly questions her. 

“Because I was at the scene of the crime. You okay, Max?” Chloe asks slowly, as if talking to a toddler.

“Yeah.. I’m just worried..”

“About what?” Chloe presses. 

“Well, the other night when I was with my lawyer.. I said Logan did it.” 

Chloe doesn’t say anything for a few seconds. 

“Chloe? You still there?” 

“Yeah. You finally talk to your best friend after five years and it turns out she’s a coldblooded murderer.” 

“That would actually be pretty cool,” Max notes.

“So, do you want to hang out today?” Max shifts from a sitting position to lying down on her bed, feet high in the air, as if she’s riding a bicycle. “We could go to Two Whales for lunch,” she suggests.

“Just had lunch.” 

“It’s barely noon,” Max points out.

“I’m a hungry girl,” Chloe says dryly. 

Max gets the feeling that Chloe is upset at her. Which is weird since Chloe is not very passive-aggressive, in fact she’s just aggressive.

“Something wrong, Chloe?” Max inquires.

“No.. Just tired.” 

“Oh.” 

“Have you ever gone out with someone, Max?” 

Max is thrown off guard. “Umm.. No. Why?”

“Good. Dating can be so fucked sometimes.” Chloe’s voice is strained, almost like the conversation itself gives her pain. 

Max takes this opportunity to question her further. “Were you dumped?

“Who would dump me?” Chloe scoffs.

“It just sucks being single…”

Max searches for the right words. “I guess..” “Maybe you should go out with Kate… or Warren,” Max chuckles at the thought. 

“Isn’t Kate the bible-thumper? No way is she going to let me in on her holiness.”

“Gross!” 

Max and Chloe both share a laugh. 

“So,” Chloe’s voice gets comically deeper. “Have you had sex yet?” 

Max flushes with red. “No. Not yet. Maybe not ever.” 

“Not ever?” Chloe asks incredulously. 

“I need to find the right person to do it with. Like someone who I’ve known for a long time.” Five years seemed to be the perfect amount.

“Tell you what Max,” Chloe starts excitedly. “I’ll play matchmaker for you and find you an eligible boy - or girl for you to go out with. I know so many guys on the force. You like chubby dudes, right? Of course you do. You’re a hipster.” 

“No, I don’t want to date some macho man.” 

“Well, you did say the police uniform was sexy. Come to think of it, I have been noticing you checking me out when I’m on duty..”

“Chloe!”

“Kidding, Max. As much as I’d like to banter, I have job responsibilities. I’ll talk to you later, cool?” 

“Cool.” 

“See you,” Chloe says before hanging up. 

Max’s eyes are glossed over, staring directly at the walls of the dorm room. A pang of loneliness flows through her. 

I should hang out with Kate, Max considers. It’s been a while.

Almost robotically, Max stumbles out of her bed. She checks herself in the mirror, adjusting her hair here and there, fixing the sweater she’s wearing, and goes out into the hallway.

Taylor and Courtney are both in front of Victoria’s door, crouched over the mini memorial complete with candles and even some flowers. Soft whispering is heard between both of them. Max walks over carefully and pretends to be scrolling on her phone. The girls don’t seem to notice her as they continue her discussion.

“...I heard it was Nathan who hulked out on her..”

“...Didn’t they say Dana was the one who tried to hide the body in the garbage bag?” 

“You really think it was her? What did Dana have against Victoria?” 

“...Remember her baby and the abortion?!”

“Keep your voice down!” A hushed whisper. 

Taylor and Courtney didn’t seem to express much grief for the death of Victoria. It’s only when Courtney looks around the hall, scanning for anyone eavesdropping, that she discovers Max has been listening. Immediately Courtney sneers: 

“Wow, Max. Didn’t your parents tell you it’s rude to listen to other people’s conversations?” 

“I was on my phone,” Max half-heartedly protests.

Taylor turns back to Courtney. “I bet you it was Maxine who did it. Her and Victoria did have some issues,” aside from a quick head jut towards her, Taylor didn’t acknowledge Max.

Max walks off, mumbling “Whatever helps you sleep at night.” The two girls stand up, giggling as they walked back to their rooms. Max quickly knocks on Kate’s door and Kate opens her door to greet Max. 

“Hi, Kate. It’s nice to see you too. Do you mind if I just chill here for a while? I’m getting bored of my dorm,” she chuckles softly,

“Sure, Max. Just hang out on the couch. I’m doing homework right now,” Kate gestures for Max to come in. She accepts, and plops down on the couch, earbuds plugged in. 

“I saw you with your friend the other day,” Kate blurts out.

Max presses Kate in a calm tone. “Who?” She asks, despite knowing exactly who Kate is talking about.

“The police officer.” 

“Chloe.”

“Yeah, her.”

“What about her?” Max insists, slightly more forceful than intended.

“I remember her.. She was the one who investigated Victoria’s murder. She called me ‘sweetie’ when she interrogated me,” Kate reminisces. 

“I also heard her in Victoria’s room before she.. died..”

Max looks at her with interest. “What do you mean?” 

Kate sighs. “I heard them talking while I was up late studying. I didn’t know what they were talking about, I just heard them.” 

“Just talking?” Max looks up at Kate hopefully, dreamily. A glint of jealousy is dancing around in her eyes.

“I don't know,” Kate admits.

Max is silent, in mourning. Tears form in her eyes. Max forces them to dry. No way is she crying over this. Max was more hurt by the fact that Chloe neglected to tell her any of this, and instead she was forced to hear it by someone else. 

Max grabs her phone and anxiously texts Chloe.

M: When were you going to tell me you and Victoria dated?

Minutes later, a reply: 

C: why is it ur business?

Max thinks about it. Chloe was right. It really was none of her business. Yet she still felt entitled to this knowledge. 

M: We’re best friends?  
C: it’s not important 

Max carefully wries each text so as not to anger Chloe even more. Her plan didn’t seem to be working. 

C: how did u even find out?  
M: When were you planning to tell me?  
C: u act like were the ones dating

Max is tempted to write ‘maybe that’s not a bad thing’ but she holds back her tongue, or fingers. 

C: it wasnt dating anyway  
C: we had sex so what  
M: I just thought you would tell me.  
C: i wanted to wait  
M: For what?  
C: for the case to be over  
C: it’s been hard on me too  
M: Wasn’t it just sex?  
Max, slightly ashamed of using a low blow like this, immediately goes to apologize.  
M: I’m sorry.  
C: no im sorry for not telling you  
C: it’s just that victoria was the first person ive had a real connection with  
C: and now that shes gone ive been feeling really lonely  
C: im sorry for getting all emotional and shit  
M: It’s okay, Chloe. I know it was hard for you to tell me this. I’m glad you can trust me.  
C: u sound like a therapist

Max smiles. Chloe is excellent at breaking the ice.  
M: Want me to come over? We could do whatever you want.  
C: you dont need to do that  
M: Come on, you’re my friend. Of course I need to.  
C: fine, but ill come to blackwell so you dont bust your ass even more being an amazing friend  
C: omw in 10 mins  
M: Okay, can’t wait to see you!

Max resists the urge to punch the air. Kate is staring at her intently. 

“Talking to Chloe?” Kate asks smugly, weakly shielding it behind guarded curiosity. 

“Yeah. She’s coming over soon,” Max tries to hide her eagerness, coming out as slightly disappointed. 

Kate, disconcerted from the sudden change of tone attempts a different approach: “She’s nice. Do you get nervous around police officers?”

Max laughs, only because it seems like the right thing to do. “No. I’ve already told her everything about Victoria.” 

“Why?”

“Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do?” Max replies. “Say the truth, nothing but the truth, so help you God?”

“Or maybe because you like her,” Kate deadpans. Max shoots up at her quick. Kate decides to take on a more neutral expression rather than showing how smug she truly feels.

“What?” Max sputters. “I don’t… How did you even…? Why would I…” Max goes on an unintelligible ramble. 

“It’s okay, Max. I don’t mind. I think the bible should be more lenient on that type of thing. Plus you and Chloe are good together.”

“Thanks Kate. I’m glad I talked to you.”

Kate returns Max’s response and waves her out. 

Back in her dorm, Max tries to kill time for the next ten minutes until Chloe gets here. A variety of paper airplanes, paper towers, and YouTube videos about cats do nothing to ease her boredom. But three hard knocks seem to do the trick.

Max jumps up and rushes to her door so fast she’s almost out of breath. When she opens the door, Chloe emerges in her uniform, grinning, holding a paper bag in her hand.

“What up Max?”

Max says nothing and hugs her. Chloe is surprised and gives a few awkward pats on the back. 

“I’m not dying yet.”

Max ignores her and gestures for her to come in. Chloe sizes up the room, flicking her eyes from one mess to another.

“I’m sorry I didn’t clean up. I was hanging out with Kate all day,” Max apologizes.

“No problem. Makes me feel right at home,” Chloe chuckles at her self-deprecating joke. Max laughs too, harder than the joke was funny. 

“What’s in the bag?” Max quizzes.

“I almost forgot.” Chloe turns the brown bag upside down until a small baggie of brownies come out. 

“Brownies?” Max asks excitedly.

“Brownies. Not the party ones, though. Just regular milk chocolatey brownies. Treat yourself.” 

While Max engorges herself with brownies, Chloe paces around the small dorm a while until she sits back on Max’s (made) bed. Piles of books and paper surround her. Chloe idly organizes them and puts them on shelves and desks. 

“Sooo, we’re gonna sit here in silence or we’re actually gonna talk about stuff?” Chloe breaks the silence. 

“Right, sorry. I just have my mind on that court summons,” Max pushes the conversation on the case. 

“Yeah. Let’s talk about something that isn’t such a bummer,” Chloe politely pushes it back.

Okay. I have a big lesbian crush on you. 

“How’s your love life?” Another conversational topic Max is interested in. 

“I haven’t been with anyone since Victoria,” Chloe admits.

“How long ago was that?”

“Two weeks.”

“Oh.” 

The conversation car hit a roadblock. Not to worry, as Max is ready to reverse it and keep on driving. 

“How about someone before that?”

Chloe thinks about the question. “Two other girls. One was some police officer who I fucked to pass the academy. Second was my friend’s roommate but I actually dated her for a while. She ended up dumping me a few months later because she thought I had no ‘aspirations’, whatever the fuck that meant. Now here I am, a government worker and she’s whoring it out somewhere. Wish I didn’t lose my virginity to her.” 

“But now you,” Chloe continues. “You have a chance to actually get it on with someone who you care about. Plus it’s gonna be your first time having sex so that just makes it even better. You’ve jerked off before, right?”

Max is surprised at the personal question. “Uh.. what?”

“Oh, come on. Rubbing your clit, paddling the pink canoe, finger painting, taming the shrew, twiddling your twat, weaving the carpet. Masturbating!” 

“Oh. I haven’t done that either,” Max blushes. 

“You’re shitting me.” 

“No, I am not.” Max affirms. 

“Okay, here’s how you do it. You basically have this thing called a clitoris, right. And you grab your index finger and rub it on or around your clit. Keep doing that until you feel really good for a few seconds and then it crashes. That’s an orgasm.”

Max tries to imagine actually doing that. “Can you explain it to me again?” 

Chloe sighs quietly. “Okay.” She stands up and grabs a pen and paper. She starts drawing something hastily and shows it to Max.

“What… is that?” 

“It’s a vagina. Or a vulva if we’re being exact.” 

“So this,” Chloe points. “Is the vaginal canal. A little above that is the urethra, where your pee comes from. Then, these little flaps are your labia minora and the labia majora. Then, up here is the clitoral hood. The clitoris is kind of wishbone shaped, but the main pleasure center is the hood. That’s how most girls get off. So, you rub that-” Chloe gestures yet again, actually rubbing her finger on it. “And then,” Chloe draws some squiggly and dashed lines coming out of the vulva. “You orgasm after a few minutes. It’s all happy for a few seconds and everything feels great. Get it now?”

“Show it to me,” Max blurts out. Damn it Max! You think that shit, not say it! 

“What?”

“Like, how does it work in real life in stuff?” Max backpedals.

“Well it’s kind of like a you-have-to-see-it-for-yourself kind of thing. Not as cool watching someone else get off unless you’re the one who caused it,” Chloe considers thoughtfully. 

Max nods carefully, rubbing circles on her leg idly. Chloe glances at her but doesn’t say anything. 

“I’m hungry,” Chloe says. 

“I thought you just had lunch,” Max remarks snarkily.

Chloe glares at her until her expression softens. “Yeah. I’m sorry, Max. I just wasn’t in the mood to talk about Victoria and the case and.. Just everything,” Chloe rambles on, pausing to look at Max.

“I know, Chloe. It’s okay,” Max assures.

“But you must have it harder. I mean you’ve got all the guilt and stuff.”

“What guilt?” Max asks defensively. 

Chloe stumbles a bit over her words. “Like, you’ve got this knowledge on who… you know… killed Victoria,” Chloe’s voice cracks as she says her name. She stares down at the floor. 

Max sees this and places her warm hand on Chloe’s leg. Chloe smiles at her. She sniffles quietly, desperate to keep the tears in her eyes. 

“I want to know who did it,” Chloe says with an air of strength.

Max’s smile fades. “I don’t know who did it.”

Chloe’s breath turns shallow. “When I find whoever did it, I want to-” Chloe stops herself. “No, I can’t. I can’t- be that person anymore, Max. And I know you know. Why won’t you tell me? You didn’t tell me at the police station, and you didn’t tell me now. Who are you protecting?” 

“I-I need to protect my friends, Chloe.”

“And what am I? A speck of dust?” 

“You said that you never dated Victoria. You said it was just a fling,” Max desperately searches for anything to calm her down. 

“I know I said that. But it was more than that. And we did go out.” Chloe sits up on the bed now, removing herself from Max’s grip.

“When?” 

“A few years ago. I couldn’t… say anything because she was only sixteen and I was eighteen. It was illegal. If the force found out what happened between me and her, I would’ve been crucified. By the police, by her family. Hell, even Victoria. She was the type to turn on anyone. But when I got admitted to the academy, I ended it with her. She was a couple months from being seventeen, but I wasn’t going to risk it.”

“And then what?” Max asks, engrossed in the story. 

“And then… I graduated. I slept with some other people, got over her.” 

“So why did you guys get together again?” 

“She wasn’t jailbait anymore. She was hotter, more mature, witty. Made for some fun times. I wanted to try again. I never got the chance. All because of some punk kid,” Chloe punches a pillow.

Max prepares to say some reassuring words, but Chloe interrupts her. “I know you’re going to try your weird comforting thing. I’m not in the mood for it, Max.” 

“Fine, you got me. Let’s just hang out here,” Max tentatively suggests.

“Deal. But we have to watch three episodes of The L Word and make fun of it,” Chloe counters.

“Double deal,” Max grins. Chloe grins back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Max gets a much needed lesson in anatomy. If only she knew she would be using it sooner than she thought...
> 
> Next chapter: RIP in pieces present tense and FINALLY a Warren Graham centered chapter (not that all six of you were practically begging for one...)


	7. Divergence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe’s still not into Max. Max decides to invest in some other activities until Chloe comes to her senses. 
> 
> Somehow Warren gets involved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To all anti-Grahamfield shippers: I’m sorry.

W: Hey Max!

Warren. Max’s friend who nearly lives in the friendzone. He’s cute, in a boyish way. He’s sort of funny. He’s definitely smart. But he’s not charming. Not like Chloe is. 

After Chloe gave Max a lesson in vaginas, she decided to try it out for herself. Chloe was right. It was definitely amazing. Especially when she imagined Chloe in a super tight police officer uniform. Recently she got the guts to ask Chloe for a special picture. Chloe’s response? 

C: y the fuck do you want a picture of me for  
M: Because I want to see you all the time! :)  
C: new rule: never hang out w hippies  
C: but fine, if u love me so much  
M: I do! 

She discovered that Chloe in plain clothes would do just fine. The uniform definitely helped too. 

After the court summons, Max was getting antsy. She wanted to know why she wasn’t charged with a crime, considering she definitely did something. 

Chloe hasn’t been around much. Apparently, she’s off investigating new cases. 

C: u think i would be good in the fbi?  
M: Depends. Do they allow blue haired potheads?  
C: that was years ago!  
C: i have some pretty dope investigating skills  
C: maybe i could go for csi  
M: Like the show?  
C: no but that would be cool  
C: catherine was pretty hot tbh  
M: She’s like twenty years older than you. And she had a daughter. And she’s straight.  
C: i love milfs

Kate is around occasionally. But all Max and Kate talk about is tea and God. Not good conversation fuel. Then you have Warren. He’s fun, he’s nice, he’s sweet, but he’s not boyfriend material. Everyone likes relationships. Max included. 

The following week after Sex Ed 101, Warren texted Max.

W: Yo!  
M: Hey!  
W: You doing anything tonight?  
M: Probably gonna order a pizza and do homework. What about you?  
W: Tonight I’m asking out a cute girl on a date

New personality trait for Warren: subtle.  
M: Do I know her?  
W: I hope so.  
M: Alright, you got me. What did you have in mind?  
W: Netflix and pizza?  
M: That’s pretty simple.  
W: You can pick the show. Provided it’s on Netflix. And I like it.

Max had to admit, Warren was kind of funny. 

M: I’ll consider it. When?  
W: In 30 mins?  
M: Fine, you have a deal. Impress me.  
W: I will try my utmost hardest to.

What a nerd. 

Max was now going on her first date. Ever. If this goes too well, she could lose her virginity to this guy. Slow down Max, don’t think ahead. She warned herself.

Max stood there doing nothing until her date timer went off. Shit. Was she supposed to put on makeup or something? 

Max looked into her mirror and applied some light mascara she got from a sample pack from Sephora. It seemed a little much, but she hoped he wouldn’t notice. Not like he’s the most perceptive guy around. Max gave herself a once-over yet again and headed out the door.

____________________________

When Max knocked on Warren’s door, he perked up immediately. “Hey, Max,” He greeted in that tentative, slow voice he always did. “I was worried you stood me up. Come in, I hope it isn’t too messy for you,” He gestured for Max to enter his room, which was immaculate. 

“No, it’s okay. It looks pretty nice,” Max politely commented. 

The room was adorned with a wooden desk and desk chair. On top of it lay a huge PC gaming rig. The bed was the center of the room and had blue striped sheets. A small trash bin was filled to the brim with tissues and candy bar wrappers. On his nightstand was a tissue box and lotion, along with a small water bottle. The TV was placed right in front of the bed, on a TV stand that doubled as a dresser. The room looked fairly clean.

“So,” Warren began. “What do you want to watch first?” Warren was setting up Netflix while Max observed his room. He began clicking through a series of potential TV shows. “You want anime, or a movie, maybe The Office...” 

“What about Parks and Recreation? You can pick the episode” Max blindly picked a not-so-sexy show in the hopes it would discourage Warren. 

“Yeah, sure. Okay. I’ll start it at season four, my favorite one.” 

Max silently disagreed. Season five was obviously the best one. 

“Take a seat on the bed and I’ll order the pizza. You okay with ham, chicken, and tomato? Cause that’s what I’m planning to get.” 

“Yeah no, that’s fine.” Sure, she liked plain more, but chicken and tomato sounds good. 

The Parks and Recreation theme song began to play. 

“I’m heading out to the hall to order it, be back soon,” Warren half-heartedly waved goodbye. 

Once Warren left, immediately Max texted Chloe:

M: I’m on a date with Warren.  
C: no shit?  
M: Definitely no shits. He’s out ordering pizza. I feel so awkward.  
C: so you guys are fucking  
C: my little max, all grown up  
M: We are definitely not going to do that. It’s just the first date.  
C: nothing wrong with doing it on the first date  
M: I wish you were here.

Max immediately shut off her phone. Her first risky text. So exhilarating. Warren came back in just in time. “Pizza’s coming in about half an hour,” he said with a smile. Max suddenly remembered why she’s doing this. That damned smile. 

Warren settled up against her, touching but not quite. Max made sure to keep her distance from him, in fear of inciting something too sexually suggestive. 

The episode ended shortly and then the next one after that. Finally, a few knocks on the door. Warren bolted up fast. Max opened her phone and prepared to see the damage:

C: oh yeah?  
C: what would u be doing if i was with you?  
C: would wink but emojis are gay

Max smiled. It’s just Chloe being Chloe.

M: Probably watch a shitty TV show and make fun of their acting.  
C: we would watch the l word  
C: hella sex scenes  
M: And why is that important?  
C: sex. duh

Warren came back in. “Pizza’s ready,” he said with a smile. 

“Can’t wait to nom on that chicken,” Max joked. 

“Same. Grab some before I do,” he warned, playfully.

Max hit him with her pizza. Warren retaliated, and they ended up in a full-blown pizza war. 

Max could see this working out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah.


End file.
